Enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall.

Exercise exclusive original jurisdiction over all contests relating to the elections, returns, and qualifications of all elective regional, provincial, and city officials, and appellate jurisdiction over all contests involving elective municipal officials decided by trial courts of general jurisdiction, or involving elective barangay officials decided by trial courts of limited jurisdiction. Decisions, final orders, or rulings of the Commission on election contests involving elective municipal and barangay offices shall be final, executory, and not appealable.

Decide, except those involving the right to vote, all questions affecting elections, including determination of the number and location of polling places, appointment of election officials and inspectors, and registration of voters.

Deputize, with the concurrence of the President, law enforcement agencies and instrumentalities of the Government, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines, for the exclusive purpose of ensuring free, orderly, honest, peaceful, and credible elections.

Register, after sufficient publication, political parties, organizations, or coalitions which, in addition to other requirements, must present their platform or program of government; and accredit citizens’ arms of the Commission on Elections. Religious denominations and sects shall not be registered. Those which seek to achieve their goals through violence or unlawful means, or refuse to uphold and adhere to this Constitution, or which are supported by any foreign government shall likewise be refused registration. Financial contributions from foreign governments and their agencies to political parties, organizations, coalitions, or candidates related to elections constitute interference in national affairs, and, when accepted, shall be an additional ground for the cancellation of their registration with the Commission, in addition to other penalties that may be prescribed by law.

File, upon a verified complaint, or on its own initiative, petitions in court for inclusion or exclusion of voters; investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute cases of violations of election laws, including acts or omissions constituting election frauds, offenses, and malpractices.

Recommend to the Congress effective measures to minimize election spending, including limitation of places where propaganda materials shall be posted, and to prevent and penalize all forms of election frauds, offenses, malpractices, and nuisance candidacies.

Recommend to the President the removal of any officer or employee it has deputized, or the imposition of any other disciplinary action, for violation or disregard of, or disobedience to its directive, order, or decision.

Submit to the President and the Congress a comprehensive report on the conduct of each election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, or recall.

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) was created by a 1940 amendment to the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines. Before the creation of the COMELEC, supervision over the conduct of elections was vested by law in the Executive Bureau under the Department of Interior and, later directly by the same Department. The Secretary of Interior saw to it that local authorities performed the ministerial duties assigned to them by the Election Code. He decides administrative questions concerning elections. The courts, however, exercised exclusive and final jurisdiction over questions affecting the right to vote as well as contested elections of local elective officials. Elections contests involving members of the National Assembly were judged solely by an Electoral Commission composed of three justices of the Supreme Court and six members of the National Assembly.

In view, however, of the close official ties between the President and the Secretary of Interior, there was always the danger of a partisan Secretary of the Interior exploiting his powers and influence to ensure the victory of his party at the polls. As a consequence, the Constitution was amended in 1940 to create an independent Commission on Elections, composed of a Chairman and two other members, to take over the functions of the Secretary of the Interior relative to the elections. but since the amendments could not be effective in time for the 1940 elections, the National Assembly, by Commonwealth Act No. 607, created a Commission on Elections, giving thereto the same powers which the Commission on Elections could have under the amended Constitution. The statutory Commission supervised the conduct of the December 10, 1940 local elections.

The constitutional amendment creating the Commission on Elections was finally approved on December 2, 1940. On June 21, 1941, Commonwealth Act No. 657 was enacted reorganizing the Commission on Elections as a constitutional entity. The members of the statutory Commission continued as members of the constitutional Commission.

The Chairman and Members of the Commission had a fixed term of nine years each – a member being replaced every three years except in the first Commission. They could be removed from office only by impeachment. They were provided with fixed salaries which could neither be increased nor diminished during their term of office. These were safeguards to ensure the independence of the Commission.

The administrative control of elections exercised by the Secretary of Interior was transferred to the Commission on Elections. The Commission was vested with the exclusive charge of enforcing and administering all laws relative to elections and power to decide all questions affecting elections, except those involving the right to vote, which were left to final judicial determination. The courts and electoral tribunals retained their original powers over election contests.

The 1973 Constitution enlarged the membership of the Commission from three to nine members but reduced their term of office from nine years to seven years. As in the 1935 Constitution, the Chairman and Commissioners have staggered terms of office and could be removed from office only by impeachment.

First to serve in the Commission on Elections under the 1973 Constitution were former Senator Leonardo B. Perez, as Chairman, and Venacio S. Duque, Flores A. Bayot, Jose M. Mendoza, Fernando R. Veloso, Lininding Pangandaman, Venancio L. Yaneza and Casimiro R. Madarang, Jr. as Commissioners. Commissioner Pangandaman, the first Muslim Commissioner of the COMELEC, was appointed Ambassador by President Ferdinand Marcos even before the expiration of his term. His unexpired term was taken over by Commissioner Hashim R. Abubakar.

On May 17, 1980, Chairman Perez (who was later appointed Minister on Political Affairs by President Marcos) and Commissioners Duque and Bayot, after completing their seven-years term, retired. Commissioner Santiago succeeded Perez, and the following were appointed Commissioners: Domingo C. Pabalete; Victorino A. Savellano; Jaime C. Opinion; Noli Sagadraca; Romeo Firme: Luis Lardizabal and Ide C. Tillah. With Commissioner Lardizabal the membership of the Commission was thus increased to eight, one short of the full complement of nine.

Upon the retirement of Commissioners Firme, Tillah and Lardizabal on May 17, 1983 the Commission on Elections was composed of only five members. On March 21, 1983, two new members were appointed by President Marcos, namely: Froilan Bacungan and Ramon H. Felipe, Jr. With the retirement of Chairman Santiago and Commissioners Pabalete and Sagadraca on May 17, 1984, Savellano was appointed Chairman. Three new members were appointed on July 27, 1985, namely: Commissioners Quirino A. Marquinez, Mangontawar Guro and Mario D. Ortiz. On January 31, 1986 Commissioners Ruben C. Agpalo and Jaime Layosa were appointed to finally complete the required membership of nine.

After the tumultuous February 7, 1986 snap elections and the People Power Revolution, Chairman Savellano and all the Commissioners of the COMELEC tendered their courtesy resignations which, except those of Commissioners Bacungan and Felipe, were accepted by President Corazon C. Aquino.

On April 11, 1986 Commissioner Felipe was appointed Acting Chairman. On July 23, 1986 he took his oath of office as permanent Chairman, together with Commissioners Leopoldo Africa, Haydee Yorac, Andres Flores, Anacleto Badoy, and Dario Rama as members of the "new" Commission on Elections. On February 15, 1988 Hilario G. Davide, Jr., was appointed Chairman with Alfredo E. Abueg, Jr., Haydee B. Yorac, Leopoldo L. Africa, Andres R. Flores, Dario C. Rama and Magdara B. Dimaampao as Commissioners. Commissioner Haydee B. Yorac was appointed as Acting Chairman when Hilario G. Davide, Jr. was appointed Chairman of the Presidential Fact Finding Commission in December 1989, pursuant to Administrative Order No. 146. On June 6, 1991 Christian Monsod was appointed by President Aquino as Chairman of the Commission to serve the unexpired term of Davide.

On January 11, 1999 President Estrada appointed Sandiganbayan Justice Harriet Demetriou as Chairman of the Commission. After the events of January 2001 that led to the ouster of President Estrada from power, Demetriou tendered her courtesy resignation which was accepted by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

On February 19, 2001 President Arroyo appointed Justice Alfredo Benipayo as Chairman of the Commission. However, the Commission on Appointments did not confirm his appointment due to opposition of some Commissioners led by Luzviminda Tancangco. On June 5, 2002 President Arroyo appointed Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman and former Mandaluyong City mayor Benjamin S. Abalos, Sr. to replace Benipayo. On January 26, 2008, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed former Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Melo, 77, to replace Chair Abalos.[3] The United Opposition (Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino) opposed Melo's appointment.[4] But Melo needs to be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments (CA), so Commissioner Romeo A. Brawner was appointed ad interim Acting Chairman on February 2, 2008 and will stay as Chairman until Melo is confirmed by the CA. On March 25, 2008, former Supreme Court justice Jose Melo was sworn in as new chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) by acting Chair Romeo A. Brawner. Melo's ad interim appointment (Congress is not in session) was sent by the Malacañan to the Commission on Appointments.[5]

On May 29, 2008, Romeo A. Brawner died from a massive heart attack. Brawner, appointed to the COMELEC to replace the controversial Virgilio Garcillano, was supposed to end his term on February 2, 2011.[6]Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, on July 2, 2008, appointed former Acting Judge (Br. 74, RTC, Malabon) Leonardo Leonida and retired Justice of the Court of Appeals Lucenito Tagle as Commissioners of the Commission on Elections.[7][8] On November 7, 2008, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has appointed Armando Velasco, as new election commissioner, and reappointed bypassed Commissioners Leonardo L. Leonida and Lucenito N. Tagle.[9]Eduardo Ermita stated "Velasco replaced COMELEC commissioner and former Iligan City Judge Moslemen Macarambon, Jr. whose appointment had been bypassed several times by the Commission on Appointments (CA)."[10][11]

On September 27, 2007, Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico filed a 69-page impeachment complaint (3:00 p.m.) against Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr. before the House of Representatives of the Philippines regarding the ZTE national broadband network (NBN) deal. It was endorsed by Representatives Teofisto Guingona III of Bukidnon and Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna (People First), and Zamboanga City Representative Ma. Isabelle Climaco. Affidavits of Romulo Neri and Jose de Venecia III supported the complaint.[12][13] On October 1, 2007, COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr. faced with an impending impeachment case resigned in a press conference. The Commission on Elections appointed Resurreccion Z. Borra as Acting Chairman. Mr. Abalos stated: "I'm resigning... effective immediately," Mr. Abalos told a news conference. "However, let not my detractors feast on this declaration. I'm not admitting guilt for any wrongdoing."[14] An impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections (COMELEC) chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr was formally filed before the House of Representatives after Romulo Neri, former chief of the National Economic Development Authority (Neda), accused Abalos of attempting to bribe him.

The Commission proper is the policy-making body composed of the Chairman and six Commissioners who must be natural-born citizens of the Philippines; at least thirty-five years of age at the time of their appointment; holders of a college degree, with a majority of them, including the Chairman, members of the Philippine Bar who have been engaged in the practice of law for at least ten years; and must not have been a candidate for any elective position in the immediate preceding elections.[15] The Chairman and the Commissioners are appointed by the President, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments and hold office for seven years, without reappointment. The Chairman acts as the Presiding Officer and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission. Assisting the Commission are an executive director and deputies, 17 Regional Election Directors, Provincial Election Supervisors and Election Officers in cities and municipalities. COMELEC has more than 15,000 employees.

The Commissioners exercise quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions either en banc or in division. They also perform such other functions as may be assigned by the Commission or the Chairman.

In August 2007, Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla delivered a privilege speech alleging that Abalos brokered for the national broadband network (NBN) project. Padilla claimed that Abalos met with officials of the Chinese firm ZTE Corp., which got the US $329 million contract for the broadband project.

Abalos denied brokering for the National Broadband Network project despite admitting he knows some officials in ZTE Corp. He admitted making four trips to China and playing golf there. He also admitted that ZTE officials, whom he says are his golf buddies, hosted and paid for the trips.

Jose de Venecia III, son of House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr, alleged that Abalos offered him US$10 million to withdraw his proposal on the NBN project. De Venecia is a majority shareholder of Amsterdam Holdings Inc., a company that submitted an unsolicited proposal on the NBN project. De Venecia also claimed that Abalos asked for money from the ZTE Corp. officials.

Abalos was mentioned in the "Hello Garci" tape, which refers to the alleged wiretapped conversations where vote rigging in the 2004 elections was discussed by, among others, a woman presumed to be President Arroyo and man presumed to be COMELEC Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Abalos was the COMELEC chair when the election body approved a P1.3-billion contract with the Mega Pacific Consortium for the purchase of automated counting machines, which the Supreme Court in January 2004 declared as void because of "clear violation of law and jurisprudence" and "reckless disregard of COMELEC's own bidding rules and procedure."

On January 21, 2004, Pimentel filed criminal and administrative charges before the Ombudsman against Abalos and other commissioners in connection with the deal. Abalos described the charges as a "demolition job."

Pimentel accused Abalos and the other commissioners of committing an act of impropriety when they and their wives traveled to Seoul, South Korea to visit the plant of the maker of the counting machines a few months before the bidding for the contract started. Pimentel said he received information that the Korean company paid for the plane tickets and hotel accommodations for the trip.

However, Abalos claimed that the expenses for the trip were paid for out of the P1 million he won in a golf tournament in Wack Wack.

On September 27, 2006, the Ombudsman, in a resolution, absolved all respondents involved in the Mega Pacific controversy of all administrative and criminal liabilities "for lack of probable cause." It also reversed its June 28 resolution which contained factual findings that can be used by the House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against COMELEC Commissioner Resureccion Borra.

Just six weeks before the general day of 9 May 2016, the COMELEC website was hacked by a group called "Anonymous Philippines" on the night of 27 March 2016.[16] Anonymous Philippines asked the poll body to implement security on Precinct Count Optical Scanners (PCOS) — automated voting machines.[17] Another group calling itself LulzSec Pilipinas, claimed to have hacked COMELEC's website, and posted its database on their Facebook account shortly after Anonymous Philippines compromised COMELEC's website.[18][19] These exploits exposed voter data and the vulnerability of both voter registration data and the functionality of their website.[18] LulzSec posts 3 mirror links on their Facebook account that can be downloaded.[18] The incident was considered the biggest private leak data in the Philippine history and leaving millions of registered voters at risk.[20][21]

The sensitive information — includes full name, complete address, and passport number — of at least 55-70 million Filipino registered voters have been leaked publicly on a website called wehaveyourdata, which is allegedly created by hacker LulzSec Philippines.[22][23] Anyone who access this website can type their first, surname, and middle name of the compromised registered voters on the search bar provided and then the sensitive information will reveal.[24] The website is now taken down by NBI on 22 April.[25] COMELEC spokersperson James Jimenez warned the public not to use that website as this could be the phishing site.[26] On 21 April, COMELEC apologizes for privacy attacks made by the hackers.[27]

1.
Intramuros
–
Intramuros is the oldest district and historic core of Manila, Philippines. It is also called the Walled City, and at the time of the Spanish Colonial Period was synonymous to the city of Manila itself and it was the seat of government when the Philippines was a component realm of the Spanish Empire. Districts beyond the walls were referred as the extramuros of Manila, construction of the defensive walls was started by Spanish colonial government in the late 16th century to protect the city from foreign invasions. The 0. 67-square-kilometre walled city was located along the shores of the Manila Bay. Guarding the old city is Fort Santiago, its located at the mouth of the river. Land reclamations during the early 20th-century subsequently obscured the walls and fort from the bay, Intramuros was heavily damaged during the battle to recapture the city from the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War. Reconstruction of the walls was started in 1951 when Intramuros was declared a National Historical Monument, the region was invaded around 1485 by Sultan Bolkiah and became a part of the Sultanate of Brunei. The site of Intramuros then became a part of the Islamic Kingdom of Maynila a Bruneian puppet-state ruled by Rajah Sulayman, a Muslim Rajah who swore fealty to the Sultan of Brunei. In 1564, Spanish explorers led by Miguel López de Legazpi sailed from New Spain, having heard of the rich resources in Manila from the natives, Legazpi dispatched two of his lieutenant-commanders, Martín de Goiti and Juan de Salcedo to explore the island of Luzon. The Spaniards arrived on the island of Luzon in 1570, after quarrels and misunderstandings between the Islamic natives and the Spaniards, they fought for the control of the land and settlements. Legazpi declared the area of Manila as the new capital of the Spanish colony on June 24,1571 because of its strategic location and he also proclaimed the sovereignty of the Monarchy of Spain over the all the archipelago. King Philip II of Spain delighted at the new conquest achieved by Legazpi and his men, awarded the city a coat of arms and declaring it as, Intramuros was settled and became the political, military and religious center of the Spanish Empire in Asia. The city was in constant danger of natural and man-made disasters and worse, in 1574, a fleet of Chinese pirates led by Limahong attacked the city and destroyed it before the Spaniards drove them away. The colony had to be again by the survivors. These attacks prompted the construction of the wall, the city of stone began during the rule of Governor-General Santiago de Vera. The city was planned and executed by Jesuit Priest, Antonio Sedeno and was approved by King Philip IIs Royal Ordinance that was issued in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, leonardo Iturriano, a Spanish military engineer specializing in fortifications, headed the project. Chinese and Filipino workers built the walls, Fort Santiago was rebuilt and a circular fort, known as Nuestra Senora de Guia, was erected to defend the land and sea on the southwestern side of the city. Funds came from a monopoly on playing cards and fines imposed on its excessive play, Chinese goods were taxed for two years

2.
Manila
–
Manila, officially City of Manila, is the capital of the Philippines. Founded on June 24,1571, by Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi and it is situated on the eastern shore of Manila Bay and is home to many landmarks, some of which date back to the 16th century. In 2012, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network listed Manila as a global city, the city proper is home to 1,780,148 people in 2015, forming the historic core of Metro Manila, the capital region of the Philippines. The metropolitan area, which includes the much larger Quezon City, Manila is also the most densely populated city proper in the world, with 41,515 people per square kilometer. The term Manila is commonly used to refer to either the whole area or the city proper. Manila is located on the shore of the Manila Bay on one of the finest harbors in the country. The city has six districts for the lower house of the Philippine Congress. Manila was once ruled by the Kingdom of Tondo before it became a province of the Majapahit Empire. During the Bruneian invasion of the Philippines, Sultan Bolkiah of Brunei captured Seludong and renamed it Maynilà, Maynilà became a vassal state of the Sultanate of Brunei, established to overpower Tondo. In 1571, conquistadors arrived from Mexico, across the Pacific Ocean, Spanish missionaries soon Christianized the city, incorporated Tondo and built some of the oldest churches in the country, including San Agustin Church. The conquistadors renamed the area Nuevo Reino de Castilla, Manila became the center of Spanish activity in the Far East and one end of the Manila–Acapulco galleon trade route linking Spanish America with Asia, one of the earliest examples of globalization. Because of its location on Pacific trade routes, Manila received the moniker Pearl of the Orient. Spanish rule of the Philippine archipelago lasted for more than three centuries, until 1898, order was usually quickly restored and the city returned to the business of trade. In the 19th century, Manila was one of the most modern cities in Asia, before the Spanish–American War, it saw the rise of the Philippine Revolution. After the war, the United States took control, switched the official language from Spanish to English, near the end of World War II, during the Battle of Manila, most of the city was flattened by intensive aerial bombardment by the United States Air Force. As a result, relatively little remains of Manilas prewar and colonial architecture, although there are ongoing projects, especially within the old walled city. Maynilà, the Filipino name for the city, originated from the word nilà, referring to a mangrove tree that grew on the delta of the Pasig River. The flowers were made into garlands that, according to folklore, were offered to statues on religious altars or in churches

3.
Philippines
–
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 square kilometers, and it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of 2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas, multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelagos earliest inhabitants and they were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples. Exchanges with Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Islamic nations occurred, then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization, in 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Roman Catholicism becoming the dominant religion, during this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, since then, the Philippines has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution. It is a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte, eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other such as Islas del Poniente. The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of its history, during the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the name Philippines began to appear, since the end of World War II, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines. The metatarsal of the Callao Man, reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago is the oldest human remnant found in the archipelago to date and this distinction previously belonged to the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 26,500 years ago. Negritos were also among the archipelagos earliest inhabitants, but their first settlement in the Philippines has not been reliably dated, there are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos

4.
Politics of the Philippines
–
This system revolves around three separate and sovereign yet interdependent branches, the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. Executive power is exercised by the government under the leadership of the president, legislative power is vested in both the government and the two-chamber Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Judicial power is vested in the courts with the Supreme Court of the Philippines as the highest judicial body, Elections are administered by an independent Commission on Elections every three years starting 1102. Held every second Monday of May, the winners in the elections take office on the following June 30, local government is produced by local government units from the provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays. While the most regions do not have power, and exist merely for administration purposes. While local government units enjoy autonomy, much of their budget is derived from allocations from the national government, the upper house, the Senate, is composed of 24 senators elected via the plurality-at-large voting with the country as one at-large district. The senators elect amongst themselves a Senate President, the lower house is the House of Representatives, currently composed of 292 representatives, with no more than 20% elected via party-list system, with the rest elected from legislative districts. The House of Representatives is headed by the Speaker, each bill needs the consent of both houses in order to be submitted to the president for his signature. If the president vetoes the bill, Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds supermajority, Congress decisions are mostly via majority vote, except for voting on constitutional amendments and other matters. Each house has its own inherent power, with the Senate given the power to vote on treaties, the constitution provides Congress with impeachment powers, with the House of Representatives having the power to impeach, and the Senate having the power to try the impeached official. The party of the president controls the House of Representatives. From 1907 to 1941, the Nacionalistas operated under a dominant-party system, during World War II, the Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic forced all the existing parties to merge into the KALIBAPI that controlled the party as a one-party state. From 1945 to 1972, the Philippines was under a two-party system, with the Nacionalistas and their offshoots Liberals alternating power, the political climate ushered in a multi-party system which persists into this day. Executive power is vested to the President, in practice however, the president, who is both the head of state and head of government, is directly elected to a single six-year term via first past the post. In case of death, resignation or incapacitation, the Vice President acts as the president until the expiration of the term, the Vice President is elected separately from the president, and may be of differing political parties. While the vice president has no powers aside from acting as president when the latter is unable to do so. The cabinet is composed of the heads of the executive departments, which provide services to the people. The president is also the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the president is also given several military powers, although once exercised, Congress is able to prolong or end it

5.
Constitution of the Philippines
–
The Constitution of the Philippines is the constitution or supreme law of the Republic of the Philippines. Its final draft was completed by the Constitutional Commission on October 12,1986 and was ratified by a plebiscite on February 2,1987. Three other constitutions have effectively governed the country in its history, the 1935 Commonwealth Constitution, the 1973 Constitution, ruling by decree during the early part of her tenure and as a president installed via the People Power Revolution, President Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation No. Often called the Freedom Constitution, this constitution was intended as a temporary constitution to ensure the freedom of the people. A constitutional assembly was called to draft a new constitution for the country. The Commission elected Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, lino Brocka, a film director and political activist who was member of the Commission, walked out before the constitutions completion, and two other delegates dissented from the final draft. The Commission finished the draft on October 12,1986. The constitution was ratified by a plebiscite on February 2,1987. The Constitution contains a preamble and eighteen self-contained articles with a numbering that resets for every article. The preamble introduces the constitution and the source of sovereignty, the people and it follows the pattern in past constitutions, including an appeal to God. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, article 2 lays out the basic social and political creed of the Philippines, particularly the implementation of the constitution and sets forth the objectives of the government. S. Similar to U. S. jurisprudence and other common law jurisdictions, article 4 defines the citizenship of Filipinos. It enumerates two kinds of citizens, natural-born citizens and naturalized citizens, natural-born citizens are those who are citizens from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect Philippine citizenship. The Philippines follows a jus sanguinis system where citizenship is acquired through a blood relationship with Filipino citizens. Article 5 provides for the qualification to vote and for a system of the secrecy of the ballot and absentee voting, article 6 provides for a bicameral legislature called the Congress composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Article 7 provides for a form of government where the executive power is vested on the President. It provides for the qualification, terms of office, election and it also provides for a Vice President and for the presidential line of succession. Article 8 vests the judicial power upon the Supreme Court and other courts as may be established by law

6.
Philippine legal codes
–
Codification of laws is a common practice in the Philippines. Many general areas of law, such as criminal law, civil law. Codification is predominant in countries that adhere to the system of civil law. Spain, a civil law country, introduced the practice of codification in the Philippines, among the codes that Spain enforced in the Philippines were the Spanish Civil Code and the Penal Code. The practice of codification was retained during the period of American Occupation of the Philippine Islands, however, during that same period, many common law principles found their way into the legal system by way of legislation and by judicial pronouncements. Judicial precedents of the Philippine Supreme Court were accepted as binding, beginning in the American Occupation, there was an effort to revise the Spanish codes that had remained in force even after the end of Spanish rule. A new Revised Penal Code was enacted in 1930, while a new Civil Code took effect in 1950, since the formation of local legislative bodies in the Philippines, Philippine legal codes have been enacted by the legislature, in the exercise of its powers of legislation. Since 1946, the laws passed by the Congress, including legal codes, have been titled Republic Acts, in contrast, Republic Acts are generally less expansive and more specific in scope. Still, the amendment of Philippine legal codes is accomplished through the passage of Republic Acts, Republic Acts have also been utilized to enact legislation on areas where the legal codes have proven insufficient. Instead of enacting amendments to the Revised Penal Code, Congress chose instead to enact a special law, the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972

7.
Congress of the Philippines
–
The Congress of the Philippines is the national legislature of the Philippines. It is a body consisting of the Senate, and the House of Representatives although commonly in the Philippines the term congress refers to the latter. The Senate is composed of 24 senators half of which are elected three years. Each senator, therefore, serves a total of six years, the senators are elected by the whole electorate and do not represent any geographical district. The House of Representatives is currently composed of 297 congressmen, VI of the Constitution states that the House shall be composed of not more than 250 members, unless otherwised fixed by law. There are two types of congressmen, the district and the sectoral representatives, the district congressmen represent a particular geographical district of the country. All provinces in the country are composed of at least one congressional district, several cities also have their own congressional districts, with some composed of two or more representatives. The sectoral congressmen represent the minority sectors of the population and this enables these minority groups to be represented in the Congress, when they would otherwise not be represented properly through district representation. Also known as party-list representatives, sectoral congressmen represent labor unions, rights groups, the Constitution provides that the Congress shall convene for its regular session every year beginning on the 4th Monday of July. A regular session can last until thirty days before the opening of its regular session in the succeeding year. The President may, however, call special sessions which are held between regular legislative sessions to handle emergencies or urgent matters. When the Philippines was under Spanish colonial rule, the colony was not given representation to the Spanish Cortes and it was only in 1809 where the colony was made an integral part of Spain and was given representation in the Cortes. On March 19,1812, the Constitution of Cadiz was approved, restoration of Philippine representation to the Cortes was one of the grievances by the Illustrados, the educated class during the late 19th century. The Illustrados campaign transformed into the Philippine Revolution that aimed to overthrow Spanish rule, proclaiming independence on June 12,1898, President Emilio Aguinaldo then ordered the convening of a revolutionary congress at Malolos. The Malolos Congress, among other things, approved the 1899 Constitution of the Philippines, with the approval of the Treaty of Paris, the Spanish sold the Philippines to the United States. The revolutionaries, attempting to prevent American conquest, launched the Philippine–American War, when the Philippines was under American colonial rule, the legislative body was the Philippine Commission which existed from 1900 to 1907. The President of the United States appointed the members of the Philippine Commission, furthermore, two Filipinos served as Resident Commissioners to the House of Representatives of the United States from 1907 to 1935, then only one from 1935 to 1946. The Resident Commissioners had a voice in the House, but did not have voting rights and this bicameral legislature was inaugurated in 1907

8.
Senate of the Philippines
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The Senate of the Philippines is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress, the House of Representatives is the lower house. The Senate is composed of 24 senators who are elected at-large with the country as one district under plurality-at-large voting, when the Senate was restored by the 1987 Constitution, the 24 senators who were elected in 1987 served until 1992. In 1992 the candidates for the Senate obtaining the 12 highest number of votes served until 1998, thereafter, each senator elected serves the full 6 years. The Senate Presidency is currently held by Aquilino Pimentel III, the Senate has its roots in the Philippine Commission of the Insular Government. At the same time the governor-general also exercised executive powers, the Governor-General stayed on as head of the executive branch of the Insular Government. Then-Philippine Resident Commissioner Manuel L. Quezon encouraged Speaker Sergio Osmeña to run for the leadership of the Senate, Quezon then ran for the Senate and became Senate President for the next 19 years. This setup continued until 1935, when the Philippine Independence Act or the Tydings–McDuffie Act was passed by the U. S, not long after the adoption of the 1935 Constitution several amendments began to be proposed. By 1938, the National Assembly began consideration of these proposals, the amendment of the 1935 Constitution to have a bicameral legislature was approved in 1940 and the first biennial elections for the restored upper house was held in November 1941. However, the Senate since its restoration and the independence of the Philippines in 1946 has the power to ratify treaties. The Senate finally convened in 1945 and served as the chamber of Congress from thereon until the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972. The Senate was resurrected in 1987 upon the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, however, instead of eight senators being replaced after every election, it was changed to twelve. Meanwhile, the Senate President, Senate President pro-tempore, the Majority Floor Leader, the composition of the Senate is smaller in number as compared to the House of Representatives. The members of this chamber are elected at large by the entire electorate, the rationale for this rule intends to make the Senate a training ground for national leaders and possibly a springboard for the presidency. With such perspective, the Senate is likely to be more circumspect, or at least less impulsive, senatorial candidates are chosen by the leaders of major political parties or coalitions of parties. The selection process is not transparent and is done in backrooms where much political horse-trading occurs, thus, the absence of regional or proportional representation in the Senate exacerbates a top heavy system of governance, with power centralized in Metro Manila. It has often suggested that each region of the country should elect its own senator to more properly represent the people. This will have the effect of flattening the power structure, regional problems and concerns within a national view can be addressed more effectively. A senators performance, accountability, and electability become meaningful to a more defined, the Senate Electoral Tribunal composed of three Supreme Court justices and six senators determines election protests on already-seated senators

9.
President of the Senate of the Philippines
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He/she is elected by the entire body to be their leader. The current Senate President of the 17th Congress of the Philippines is Aquilino Pimentel III, the Senate President is second in line in succession for the presidency, behind the Vice President of the Philippines and in front of the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. Although Senate presidents are elected at the start of each Congress, a tied vote, therefore, means that the motion is lost, and that the Senate President cannot cast a tie-breaking vote since that would mean that the presiding officer would have had voted twice. In the Senate, he supervises the committees and attended its hearings and meetings if necessary, the Senate was created on 1916 with the abolition of the Philippine Commission as the upper house with the Philippine Assembly as the lower house. The Senate and the House of Representatives comprised the Philippine Legislature, representation was by senatorial district, Manuel L. Quezon was elected Senator from the now-defunct 5th Legislative District. All Senators from 1941 onwards were elected at-large, with the whole Philippines as one constituency, currently there are seven living former Senate Presidents, Living Former Senate Presidents Legend, Boldface means still an incumbent Senator. List of Senators of the Philippines Roll of Senate Presidents

10.
House of Representatives of the Philippines
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The House of Representatives of the Philippines, is the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines. It is often informally called Congress, Members of the House are officially styled as Representative and sometimes informally called Congressmen/Congresswomen and are elected to a three-year term. They can be re-elected, but cannot serve more than three consecutive terms, around eighty percent of congressmen are district representatives, representing a particular geographical area. There are 234 legislative districts in the country, each composed of about 250,000 people, there are also party-list representatives elected through the party-list system who constitute not more than twenty percent of the total number of representatives. The House of Representatives is headed by the Speaker, currently Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte, the official headquarters of the House of Representatives is at the Batasang Pambansa located in the Batasan Hills in Quezon City in Metro Manila. The building is simply called Batasan and the word has also become a metonym to refer to the House of Representatives. At the beginning of American colonial rule, from March 16,1900, william Howard Taft was chosen to be the first American civilian Governor-General and the first leader of this Philippine Commission, which subsequently became known as the Taft Commission. This bicameral legislature was inaugurated in October 1907, under the leadership of Speaker Sergio Osmeña and Floor Leader Manuel L. Quezon, the Rules of the 59th United States Congress was substantially adopted as the Rules of the Philippine Legislature. It is this body, founded as the Philippine Assembly, that would continue in one form or another, in 1916, the Jones Act, officially the Philippine Autonomy Act, changed the legislative system. The Philippine Commission was abolished and a new fully elected, bicameral Philippine Legislature consisting of a House of Representatives, the legislative system was changed again in 1935. The 1935 Constitution established a unicameral National Assembly, but in 1940, through an amendment to the 1935 Constitution, a bicameral Congress of the Philippines consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate was adopted. The Liberal bloc of the Nacionalistas permanently split from their ranks and these two will contest all of the elections in what appeared to be a two-party system. This set up continued until President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, the 1987 Constitution restored the presidential system of government together with a bicameral Congress of the Philippines. Corazon Aquino who nominally had no party, supported the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, with the victory of Fidel V. This also meant the restoration of Lakas-NUCD as the top party in the chamber, the same would happen when Benigno Aquino won in 2010, which returned the Liberals into power. The presiding officer is the Speaker, the members of the House of Representatives who are also its officers are also ex officio members of all of the committees and has a vote. The Speaker is the head of the House of Representatives, the speaker is elected by majority of all the members of the house, including vacant seats. The speaker is elected at the convening of each Congress

11.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
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She was the countrys second female president, and the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal. Arroyo is also the first duly elected female Vice President of the Philippines, Arroyo was a former professor of economics at Ateneo de Manila University where Benigno Aquino III was one of her students. She entered government in 1987, serving as assistant secretary and undersecretary of the Department of Trade, after serving as a senator from 1992 to 1998, she was elected to the vice presidency under President Joseph Estrada, despite having run on an opposing ticket. After Estrada was accused of corruption, she resigned her position as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development and joined the growing opposition to the president. Estrada was soon forced from office by the EDSA Revolution of 2001 and she was elected to a full six-year presidential term in the controversial May 2004 Philippine elections, and was sworn in on June 30,2004. Following her presidency, she was elected to the House of Representatives, on November 18,2011, Arroyo was arrested following the filing of criminal charges against her for electoral fraud. She was held at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City under charges of electoral sabotage and she was rearrested while in the hospital on charges of misuse of $8.8 million in state lottery funds in October 2012. On July 19,2016, she was acquitted by the Supreme Court by a vote of 11-4 and she is a member of the Philippine Academy of the Spanish Language. She was born as Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal to politician Diosdado Macapagal and his wife and she is the sister of Dr. Diosdado Boboy Macapagal, Jr. and Cielo Macapagal Salgado. She spent the first years of her life in Lubao, Pampanga, at the age of four, she chose to live with her maternal grandmother in Iligan City. She stayed there for three years, then split her time between Mindanao and Manila until the age of 11 and she is fluent in English, Tagalog, Spanish and several other Philippine languages, most importantly, Kapampangan, Ilokano, and Cebuano. In 1961, when Arroyo was just 14 years old, her father was elected as president and she moved with her family into Malacañang Palace in Manila. A municipality was named in her honor, Gloria, Oriental Mindoro and she attended Assumption Convent for her elementary and high school education, graduating valedictorian in 1964. She then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Assumption College, in 1968, Arroyo married lawyer and businessman Jose Miguel Arroyo of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, whom she had met while still a teenager. They had three children, Juan Miguel, Evangelina Lourdes and Diosdado Ignacio Jose Maria and she pursued a masters degree in Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University and a Ph. D. in Economics from the University of the Philippines Diliman. From 1977 to 1987, she held teaching positions in schools, notably the University of the Philippines. She became chairperson of the Economics Department at Assumption College, in 1987, she was invited by President Corazon Aquino to join the government as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry. She was promoted to Undersecretary two years later, in her concurrent position as Executive Director of the Garments and Textile Export Board, Arroyo oversaw the rapid growth of the garment industry in the late 1980s

12.
Legislative districts of the Philippines
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The legislative districts of the Philippines are the divisions of the Philippines provinces and cities for representation in the House of Representatives. The first composition of legislative districts was enshrined in the Ordinance appended to the Constitution, changes in the composition of legislative districts were later added as new provinces and cities were created, and the composition was modified through laws enacted by Congress. Apportionment on local legislatures is also possible, Representation to the legislature traces its origin to the Spanish era, when the Philippines was granted very limited representation to the Spanish Cortes. Representation in the assembly was apportioned among the provinces with respect to their population, in 1916, the Philippine Legislature was reconstituted with a Senate as the upper house and the Assembly retained as the lower house. The Senate elected members through Senatorial Districts, a grouping of provinces and areas of the country, with the passage of the 1940 Amendments to the 1935 Constitution, a bicameral Congress was established with a House of Representatives and a Senate. The House of Representatives way of representation was like that of the Philippine Assembly, however, with the advent of the 1987 Constitution, the Batasan was scrapped and the Congress was restored. From 1916 to 1935, the Philippines was divided into 12 senatorial districts, each district except for the twelfth senatorial district elected two senators to the Senate. The senators from 12th senatorial district were appointed by the U. S. Governor-General, since 1941, when the Senate was restored, all twenty-four senators have been elected at-large in intervals. Increased representation, Decreased representation Representation in the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly follows the congressional districts, however, unlike one seat being contested in each district, three seats elected via plurality-at-large voting is done. Representation via provincial boards, known as Sangguniang Panlalawigan are also via legislative districts, the provinces income determines how many seats it is entitled to, with 6 seats being the least. If a province only has one district, the Commission on Elections then divides the province into two districts based on population and geography. At-large representation is used in municipalities through their Sangguniang Bayan. At-large representation is always via plurality-at-large voting Administrative divisions of the Philippines

13.
Sangguniang Panlalawigan
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The Sangguniang Panlalawigan, commonly known as the Provincial Board, is the Filipino language name given to the legislatures in Philippine provinces. They are the branch of the province and their powers. Along with the governor, the executive branch of the province. Encomiendas were organized only for the purposes of collecting tribute that went in part to the Roman Catholic Church, the Spanish army, later on areas which were organized and given the designation of province were led by an appointed alcalde who performed judicial, fiscal and executive functions. American rule brought radical changes to the system of government in the country. In 1901 the Philippine Commission enacted Act No,83, known as the Provincial Government Act, which outlined the powers, responsibilities and composition of the provincial government. As civil government took hold, the governorship was made elective, the composition of provincial boards were also later modified, with the treasurer and third member taken out and replaced by two members elected by popular vote. Not all provinces had the type of government. The passage of Republic Act No, however, the Board still had limited real legislative powers, as the provincial government was merely serving as an extension of national government. Republic Act No.5185 was enacted in 1967 with the intention of decentralizing authority,51, enacted in 1979, standardized the composition of all provincial legislatures by reducing the membership of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. All provinces were entitled to 6 elective SP members, unless they had more than one million residents or less than 100,000 residents, the powers and duties of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan was codified under Batas Pambansa Blg. 337, also known as the Local Government Code of 1983, the governor served as an ex officio member, who did not vote except only to break a tie, but had the power to veto items within, or entire, Sanggunian ordinances and resolutions. However the veto can be overridden by a vote of all voting SP members. The Sangguniang Panlalawigan was retained as the branch of all provincial governments under the 1987 Constitution. Since 1992 SP members are elected from districts to ensure geographical representation, the powers, duties and functions of the Sanggunian are outlined in Section 468 of the Local Government Code of 1991. The legislative body is tasked in general to enact ordinances, approve resolutions and appropriate funds for the welfare of the province. In the proper exercise of the powers of the province. The provincial vice-governor serves as its officer, who do not vote except in cases to break a tie

14.
Sangguniang Panlungsod
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The Sangguniang Panlungsod are the legislatures of city governments in the Philippines. As defined by the Local Government Code of 1991, the legislatures have legislative and quasi-judicial powers, the members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, often referred to as councilors are either elected or ex-officio and includes a citys vice mayor who serves as the presiding officer. The term was coined from the Tagalog words sanggunian and lungsod which means city council, in the absence of the vice mayor, a temporary presiding officer is assigned by the members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod from among themselves. The number of elected councilors a citys Sangguniang Panlungsod is composed of is prescribed in its charter. In absence of such a provision, it is composed of ten elected councilors, on the other hand, if the city also corresponds to a legislative district. Some cities also elect their councilors by districts which may also be provided in its charter, in general, cities which are composed of at least two legislative districts, equally divide its elected council seats among its districts. Of all the cities, Manila and Quezon City have the most number of elected councilors with 36 each, COMELEC Resolution 7801 - Annex C

15.
Sangguniang Bayan
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The Sangguniáng Bayan is the local legislative branch of the municipal governments in the Philippines. It is responsible for passing ordinances and resolutions for the administration of a municipality and its powers are defined by the Local Government Code, passed by the Congress in 1991. The municipal vice mayor is the ex officio presiding officer of the Sangguniáng Bayan, in the absence of the vice mayor, a temporary presiding officer is elected by the Sangguniáng Bayan councilors present at the session. All municipalities in the Philippines, with the exception of Pateros in Metro Manila, have eight members or councilors elected at-large. In the case of Pateros, its Sangguniang Bayan is composed of elected councilors. Elected or regular members of the Sangguniang Bayan must at least be 18 years old on election day and they are elected for a three-year term and may serve up to three consecutive terms. Elections are held simultaneously with the elections held every three years since 1992. The term begins at noon of June 30 following election day, a permanent vacancy among the regular Sagguniang Bayan members is filled in by an appointment of the governor of the province the municipality is a part of. Appointees are also limited to only the unexpired term. In the case of vacancies among ex officio members the next ranking official of the Liga ng mga Barangay or Pederasyon ng Sangguniang Kabataan assumes the vacancy, an ordinance passed by the Sangguniang Bayan is sent to the municipal mayor for approval. Once approved, it is transmitted to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the province to which the municipality belongs, since Pateros is not part of any province, any ordinance or measure it adopts is not subjected to any Sangguniang Panlalawigan review. Any veto action must be communicated with the Sangguniang Bayan within ten days otherwise the ordinance is considered approved, but if no action is taken by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan within 30 days, it is presumed to be compliant and deemed valid. Municipalities of the Philippines The Local Government Code of the Philippines

16.
Sangguniang Barangay
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The term is coined from the Tagalog words sanggunian and baranggay which means barangay advisory council. It passes ordinances and resolutions for the administration of the barangay. Its powers and functions are defined by the Local Government Code of 1991, during the American Colonial Period, appointed Rural Councils were created, with four councillors assisting the councils Barrio Lieutenant, now known as the Barangay Captain. The body was later renamed Barrio Council, the 1959 Barrio Charter Act, passed after Philippine independence in 1946, changed the council from being appointed to elected. League of Barangays of the Philippines List of cities and municipalities in the Philippines Barrio Charter Act on ChanRobles. com

17.
President of the Philippines
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The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The President leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Filipinos refer to their President as Pangulo or Presidente. The President serves a single, fixed, six-year term without possibility of re-election, in Filipino, one of the two official languages of the Philippines, the President is referred to as Pangulo. In the other languages of the Philippines such as the Visayan languages. Depending on the chosen for these terms, a number of persons could alternatively be considered the inaugural holder of the office. Andrés Bonifacio could be considered the first President of a united Philippines since he was the third Supreme President of the Katipunan and its Supreme Council, led by the Supreme President, coordinated provincial and district councils. When the Katipunan started a revolt against the Spanish colonial government in August 1896. While the term Katipunan remained, Bonifacios government was known as the Tagalog Republic. Bonifacios revolutionary government never controlled territory for any significant period. Some historians contend that including Bonifacio as a past president would imply that Macario Sacay, in March 1897, during the Philippine Revolution against Spain Emilio Aguinaldo was elected president of the revolutionary government at the Tejeros Convention. The new government was meant to replace the Katipunan, though the latter was not formally abolished until 1899, Aguinaldo was again elected President at Biak-na-Bato in November, leading the Republic of Biak-na-Bato. Aguinaldo therefore signed the Pact of Biak-na-Bato and went into exile in Hong Kong at the end of 1897, in April 1898, the Spanish–American War broke out, and the Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy sailed for the Philippines. At the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1,1898 the American Navy decisively defeated the Spanish Navy effectively ending Spanish rule in the Philippines, aquinaldo subsequently returned to the Philippines aboard a U. S. Navy vessel and renewed the revolution. He formed a government on May 24,1898 and issued the Philippine Declaration of Independence on June 12,1898. On June 23,1898, Aguinaldo transformed his government into a revolutionary government. On January 23,1899, he was then elected President of the First Philippine Republic, consequently, this government is also called the Malolos Republic. The First Philippine Republic was short-lived and never internationally recognized, the Philippines was transferred from Spanish to American control by the Treaty of Paris of 1898, signed in December of that year. The Philippine–American War broke out between the United States and Aguinaldos government and his government effectively ceased to exist on April 1,1901, after he pledged allegiance to the United States following his capture by U. S. forces in March

18.
Rodrigo Duterte
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Rodrigo Rody Roa Duterte, also known as Digong, is a Filipino politician and jurist who is the 16th and current President of the Philippines. He is the first Mindanaoan to hold the office, and the fourth of Visayan descent, at 71 years old, Duterte is the oldest person to assume the Philippine presidency, eclipsing Sergio Osmeñas age of 65. Duterte studied political science at the Lyceum of the Philippines University, graduating in 1968, Duterte was among the longest-serving mayors in the Philippines, serving seven terms totaling more than 22 years in office. Duterte has alternately confirmed and denied his involvement in the killings, Duterte has repeatedly confirmed that he personally killed three kidnapping suspects while Mayor of Davao in 1988. On May 9,2016, Duterte won the Philippine presidential election with 38. 5% of the votes and his domestic policy has focused on combating illegal drug trade by initiating the Philippine Drug War. He has vowed to pursue an independent foreign policy, Duterte was born on March 14,1945, in Maasin. His maternal grandfather was a Chinese immigrant from Xiamen, Fujian and his father was Vicente G. Duterte, a Cebuano lawyer, and his mother Soledad Duterte, was a school teacher from Cabadbaran, Agusan and a civic leader of Maranao descent. Dutertes father was acting mayor of Danao, Cebu and subsequently the governor of Davao province. Rodrigos cousin Ronald, on the hand, served as Cebu City mayor from 1983 to 1986. Ronalds father, Ramon Duterte, also held the position from 1957 to 1959, the Dutertes consider the Cebu-based political families of the Durano and the Almendras clan as relatives. Duterte also has relatives from the Roa clan in Leyte through his mothers side, before they resettled to Davao, Dutertes family briefly lived in his birthplace in Maasin, Leyte, and in his fathers hometown in Danao, Cebu, until he was four years old. The Dutertes initially moved to Mindanao in 1948 but still went back and they finally settled in the Davao Region in 1950. Vicente as a lawyer engaged in practice, while Soledad taught in public schools as a teacher. Mrs Duterte, however, retired as a supervisor in 1952 when her lawyer-husband entered politics there, Duterte went to Laboon Elementary School in Maasin, for a year. He spent his elementary days at the Santa Ana Elementary School in Davao City. He graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in science at the Lyceum of the Philippines in Manila. He obtained a law degree from San Beda College of Law in 1972, in the same year, he passed the bar exam. Duterte has said that he was abused by a priest when he was a minor

19.
Vice President of the Philippines
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The Vice President of the Philippines is the second-highest executive official of the government of the Philippines, after the President. The Vice President currently holds office at the Quezon City Reception House in Quezon City, the text of the 1987 Constitution refers to the person and office of the Vice-President, with a dash connecting the two words. However, the person and office is referred to today without the dash. The first known vice president claiming to be part of a government was Mariano Trías and he was elected during the elections of the Tejeros Convention, and was later elected vice president of the Supreme Council that oversaw negotiations for the Biak na Bato pact in 1897. This Supreme Council had no sovereignty, did not govern any state and this council was replaced later, with no such position existing during the countrys declaration of independence in 1898, which had a dictatorial government. Officially, the countrys first actual republic was founded in 1899, trias instead served in the cabinets of Apolinario Mabini and Pedro Paterno, as finance minister and war minister, respectively. Trias is not considered a Philippine Vice President as the Supreme Council did not proclaim any sovereign state, the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines established the position of Vice President, and may be appointed by the President to a cabinet position. The first person elected to the position of Vice President under the constitution was Sergio Osmeña, prior to independence in 1946, that cabinet portfolio was Secretary of Public Instruction, which had once been reserved only for the Vice Governor-General. Vice President Osmena held that position from 1935–1939, and a portfolio in the War Cabinet during World War II. After independence, the cabinet position became that of Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Vice President Fernando Lopez declined the Foreign Affairs portfolio when he became Quirinos Vice President in 1949, gloria Macapagal-Arroyo served as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development. Arturo Tolentino was officially proclaimed Vice President-elect by the Regular Batasang Pambansa in 1986, within a week after Tolentinos oath, the People Power Revolution resulted in the collapse of the Marcos regime. On February 25,1986 Corazon Aquino and Salvador H. Laurel were sworn in as President, the office of Vice President was abolished and not included in the original version of the 1973 Constitution. It was, however, reinstated in subsequent amendments, just before the elections in 1986 that led to the People Power Revolution that installed Corazon Aquino into the Presidency. The Vice President is elected in the manner as, but separately from. Both the President and the Vice President are elected by plurality vote where the candidate who garners the highest number of votes, whether a majority or not. The Vice President is barred from serving more than two consecutive terms, the Vice President is first in the presidential line of succession. The Constitution provides several circumstances where the Vice President shall assume the Presidency or serve as acting President, in case of the death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the Vice President shall assume the Presidency

20.
Leni Robredo
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Maria Leonor Leni Santo Tomas Robredo is a Filipino lawyer and social activist who is the 14th and current Vice President of the Philippines. She is the woman to serve as Vice President after Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Robredo first came to attention in 2012 after the death of her husband, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo. Prior to the accident, her involvement in life was as a lawyer. Maria Leonor Santo Tomas Gerona was born on April 23,1964 in Naga, Camarines Sur and she was the first of three children born to retired Naga City Regional Trial Court Judge Antonio Gerona and Salvacion Santo Tomas. Gerona was educated at the Universidad de Sta, isabel in Naga, graduating from elementary school in 1978, and from high school in 1982. She then graduated with a degree in economics from the School of Economics of the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1986 and she then went to obtain her Masters Degree in business administration at San Beda College prior to studying Law at University of Nueva Caceres, graduating in 1992. Here she met then-Program Director Jesse Robredo, who would become her husband. From 1998 to 2008, Robredo became the coordinator of Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligan, later, the groups focus shifted to include helping rural women to acquire capital in order to become competitive markets. In addition, she founded the Lakas ng Kababaihan ng Naga Federation, in 2012, Robredo was named the chairperson of the Liberal Party in Camarines Sur. She ran in Camarines Surs 3rd congressional district during the Philippine general elections of 2013 and she was known for being a strong advocate of the Freedom of Information Act, was a strong supporter of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. Participatory governance and transparency were major thrusts of Robredos legislative agenda, to promote transparency in the taxation process, she sponsored the house version of what would eventually become Republic Act RA10708, the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act of 2009. Other major legislation co-authored by Robredo include the Anti-Dynasty Bill and the Healthy Beverage Options Act, in addition, Robredo was one of many co-authors of the National Budgets for the years 2014,2015, and 2016. Robredo won the election with 14,418,817 votes or 35.11 percent of the votes, Robredo was sworn in as Vice President of the Philippines on June 30,2016 at the Quezon City Reception House, of which Robredo uses as her office. Robredo first met President Rodrigo Duterte personally at the Armed Forces of the Philippines change-of-command ceremonies at Camp Aguinaldo on July 1,2016 and she later paid a courtesy call on him at the Malacañang Palace on July 4, their first formal meeting. On July 7, Duterte called Robredo during a conference to offer her the Cabinet position of being the head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council. Robredo is the third Vice President to head the government agency focused on housing programs, following her immediate predecessors Noli de Castro, Duterte earlier said that he did not want to appoint a Cabinet position to Robredo due to his unfamiliarity with her and his friendship with Bongbong Marcos. In September 2016, after the onslaught of Typhoon Ferdie in Batanes, Robredo visited the island in which she offered aid, in the same month Leni Robredo met with Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates B

21.
Cabinet of the Philippines
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The Cabinet of the Philippines consists of the heads of the largest part of the executive branch of the national government of the Philippines. Currently, it includes the secretaries of 20 executive departments and the heads of several other minor agencies and offices that are subordinate to the President of the Philippines. If the presidential appointees are approved, they are sworn into office, receive the title Secretary, and begin to function their duties. Article 7, Section 16 of the Constitution of the Philippines says that the President The men and women listed below form the cabinet and are the heads of the departments of the Philippines. They are listed in the order of precedence established by the government, all departments are listed by their present-day name with their English names on top and Filipino names at the bottom. Some officials have cabinet-level rank, but are not Secretaries of Executive Departments and they are the following, The foundation date of various departments vary, depending on whether their origin can be traced to the First Republic or during the American era. Until the Tejeros Convention in 1897, government functions were conducted by the Katipunan, the convention decided to replace the Katipunan with a provisional revolutionary government. This was in turn replaced by the Biak na Bato Republic which in turn was disbanded because of the Pact of Biak na Bato, the Revolutionary movement was then led in exile by the Hong Kong Junta. The Revolution resumed in May,1898 and resulted in what is considered the first actual government. Constitution of the First Republic explicitly stated the government ministries to be formed, Mabini Cabinet Apolinario Mabini - Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister. Mariano Trias - Finance Teodoro Sandico - Interior Baldomero Aguinaldo - National Defense Gracio Gonzaga - Welfare Paterno Cabinet Pedro Paterno - Prime Minister Leon Ma, the Executive power was wielded by the Governor-General of the Philippines. Among cabinet officials, Filipinos and Americans held various posts, except for that of Secretary of Public Instruction, which was reserved for an American, specifically, with autonomy achieved, the President of the Philippines appointed the cabinet members. The existence of war resulted in the consolidation of cabinet portfolios, the war cabinet system was reorganized several sometimes. The Second Republic replaced the Philippine Executive Commission, Cabinet officials gave up the title of commissioners and became known as ministers. The Commonwealth of the Philippines was restored on Philippine soil in October,1944, in 1978, under the 1973 Constitution, the departments were renamed into ministries. In 1981, Martial Law was lifted, the regular Parliament convenes with Cesar Virata being voted Prime Minister, under her revolutionary powers, President Corazon Aquino abolished the system of government ministries and restored the department system. With the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, this became permanent. Executive departments of the Philippines List of female secretaries of the Philippines Official site of the Presidents Cabinet

22.
Executive departments of the Philippines
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The executive departments of the Philippines are the largest component of the national executive branch of the government of the Philippines. There are a total of twenty executive departments, the departments comprise the largest part of the countrys bureaucracy. The heads of departments are referred to as the Cabinet of the Philippines. During the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, upon the mandate of the then 1973 Constitution, for example, the Department of Education became Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. All departments are listed by their name with their English names on top. Department heads are listed at the Cabinet of the Philippines article, the departments listed below are defunct agencies which have been abolished, integrated, reorganised or renamed into the existing executive departments of the Philippines

23.
Local government in the Philippines
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In one area, above provinces and independent cities, is an autonomous region, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Below barangays in some cities and municipalities are sitios and puroks, all of these, with the exception of sitios and puroks, elect their own executives and legislatures. Sitios and puroks are often led by elected barangay councilors, provinces and independent cities are organized into national government regions but those are administrative regions and not separately governed areas with their own elected governments. According to the Constitution of the Philippines, the local governments shall enjoy local autonomy, Autonomous regions have more powers than other local governments. The constitution limits the creation of regions to Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras but only one autonomous region exists. In 2001, a plebiscite in the ARMM confirmed the composition of the autonomous region and added Basilan. Isabela City remains a part of the province of Basilan despite rejecting inclusion in the ARMM, a Cordillera Autonomous Region has never been formed because no plebiscite has received the required support. An autonomous region is governed by the governor and a legislature such as the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly. Outside the lone autonomous region, the provinces are the local government. The provinces are organized into component cities and municipalities, a province is governed by the governor and a legislature known as the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Municipal government in the Philippines is divided into three – independent cities, component cities, and municipalities, several cities across the country are independent cities which means that they are not governed by a province, even though like Iloilo City the provincial capitol might be in the city. Independent city residents do not vote for nor hold provincial offices, far more cities are component cities and are a part of a province. Municipalities are always a part of a province except for Pateros which was separated from Rizal to form Metro Manila, cities and municipalities are governed by mayors and legislatures, which are called the Sangguniang Panlungsod in cities and the Sangguniang Bayan in municipalities. Every city and municipality in the Philippines is divided into barangays, barangays can be further divided into sitios and puroks but those divisions do not have leaders elected in formal elections supervised by the national government. A barangays executive is the Punong Barangay or barangay captain and its legislature is the Sangguniang Barangay, composed of barangay captain, the Barangay Kagawads, the SK chairman also leads a separate assembly for youth, the Sangguniang Kabataan or SK. Local governments have two branches, executive and legislative, all courts in the Philippines are under the Supreme Court of the Philippines and therefore there are no local-government controlled judicial branches. Nor do local governments have any prosecutors or public defenders, as those are under the jurisdiction of the national government, the legislatures review the ordinances and resolutions enacted by the legislatures below. Each ARMM assembly district elects 3 members to the assembly that convenes in Cotabato City

24.
Supreme Court of the Philippines
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The Supreme Court of the Philippines, is the highest court in the Philippines. It is presided over by a Chief Justice and is composed of fifteen Justices, pursuant to the Constitution, the Supreme Court has administrative supervision over all courts and the personnel thereof. Until 1945, the Court met in Cavite, an additional constitutional requirement, though less precise in nature, is that a judge must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence. Beginning with the 1935 Constitution, Supreme Court Justices are obliged to retire upon reaching the retirement age of 70. Some Justices had opted to retire before reaching the age of 70, such as Florentino Feliciano, Alicia Austria-Martinez who retired at 68 due to health reasons. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines provides that, Section 11, the Members of the Supreme Court xxx shall hold office during good behavior until they reach the age of seventy years or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office. Since,1901, it was only incumbent Associate Justice Alicia Austria-Martinez who resigned for health reasons, in the October 1 Judicial and Bar Councils en banc deliberations, Reynato Puno ruled, “The court merely noted it. We don’t have to approve it, during the JBC hearing, a JBC member said Austria-Martinez had wanted to retire earlier because of health reasons. We were told she had problems even when she was in the CA. ”Retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Artemio Panganiban stated. Alicia Austria-Martinez has opted to retire early from the Supreme Court due to health reasons, neither is she physically or mentally incapacitated, but she has chosen to retire on April 30,2009 because she felt she could no longer cope with the heavy caseload. This was followed in 2016 however, by Justice Martin Villarama, the powers of the Supreme Court are defined in Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution. These functions may be divided into two – judicial functions and administrative functions. The administrative functions of the Court pertain to the supervision and control over the Philippine judiciary and its employees, as well as over members of the Philippine bar. Pursuant to these functions, the Court is empowered to order a change of venue of trial in order to avoid a miscarriage of justice and to appoint all officials and employees of the judiciary. The Court is further authorized to promulgate the rules for admission to the practice of law, for assistance to the underprivileged. The more prominent role of the Court is located in the exercise of its judicial functions, Section 1 of Article VIII contains definition of judicial power that had not been found in previous constitutions. The judicial power is vested in “one Supreme Court and in lower courts as may be established by law. ”The definition reaffirms the power of the Supreme Court to engage in judicial review. As a result, the existence of “grave abuse of discretion” on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the government is sufficient basis to state action

25.
Antonio Carpio
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Antonio Tirol Carpio is an incumbent Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was appointed to the Court by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and assumed office on October 26,2001, born in Davao City, Carpio finished grade school and high school at the Ateneo de Davao University. He ranked sixth with a rating of 85. 70% in the 1975 Philippine Bar Examination, fresh out of law school, Justice Carpio went into private practice and founded the Carpio Villaraza and Cruz Law firm. He soon emerged as one of the prominent and successful legal practitioners in the country. Carpio also taught Tax law, Corporate law, and Negotiable Instruments law at the U. P, college of Law from 1983 to 1992. In 1992, he joined the administration of President Fidel Ramos as Chief Presidential Legal Counsel of the Office of the President, during the presidency of Joseph Estrada, Carpio returned to private practice and penned a regular opinion column published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Carpio was the first appointee of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the Supreme Court of the Philippines after her assumption into office in January 2001, at age fifty-two, he was one of the youngest appointees to the High Court. Being the Senior Associate Justice, he assumed the post as the Acting Chief Justice in May 29,2012 until the President appoints a new chief justice and he also heads the High Courts Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court. Carpio is married to Ruth Nguyen and they have two children, former Supreme Court Justice and now-Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales is his third cousin. Justice Carpios personal advocacy is to protect and preserve Philippine territorial and maritime sovereignty specifically in the West Philippine Sea. ”In his speech Grand Theft of the Global Commons and he also maintains that The Philippines is fighting a legal battle not only for itself but also for all mankind. A victory for the Philippines is a victory for all States, coastal and landlocked, in recent years has been travelling the world to present Philippines historical and legal case when it comes to disputed islands in the South China Sea. He has visited 18 countries,28 key cities

26.
Court of Appeals of the Philippines
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The Court of Appeals of the Philippines is the Philippines second-highest judicial court, just after the Supreme Court. The court consists of 69 Associate Justices and 1 Presiding Justice, under RA9282, which elevated the CTA to the same level of the CA, CTA en banc decisions are now subject to review by the Supreme Court instead of the CA. The Court of Appeals building is located at Maria Orosa Street and it had exclusive appellate jurisdiction of all cases not falling under the original and exclusive appellate jurisdiction of the 7-man Supreme Court. Its decisions in cases were final, except when the Supreme Court upon petition for certiorari on questions of law required that the case be certified to it for review. It had also original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus, prohibition, injunction, certiorari, habeas corpus, the Court then sat either en banc or in two divisions, one of 6 and another of 5 Judges. The appellate Judges had the same qualifications as those provided by the Constitution for Supreme Court Justices, in March 1938, the appellate Judges were named Justices and their number increased from 11 to 15, with three divisions of 5 under Commonwealth Act No.259. On December 24,1941, the membership of the Court was further increased to 19 Justices under Executive Order No.395, the Court functioned during the Japanese occupation, 1941-44. But in March 1945, due to conditions at the time. The end of World War II restored the democratic processes in the country, on October 4,1946, Republic Act No.52 was passed recreating the Court with a Presiding Justice and fourteen Associate Justices. They composed 5 divisions of 3 Justices each, on August 23,1956, the Court membership was expanded to 18 Justices per Republic Act No.1605. The number was hiked to 24 Justices as decreed by Republic Act No.5204 approved on June 15,1968. Ten years later, the swelling of its dockets called for a much bigger Court of 45 Justices under Presidential Decree No.1482 of June 10,1978. Then came the Judiciary Reorganization on January 17,1983 through Executive Order No.864 of President Marcos, the Court was renamed Intermediate Appellate Court and its membership enlarged to 51 Justices. However, only thirty-seven Justices were appointed, on July 28,1986, President Aquino issued Executive Order No.33 restoring the original name of the Court of Appeals with a Presiding Justice and fifty Associate Justices. No.7902 was passed expanding the jurisdiction of the Court effective March 18,1995, No.8246 created six more divisions in the Court, thereby increasing its membership from 51 to 69 Justices. These additional divisions -3 for Visayas and 3 for Mindanao paved the way for the appellate courts regionalization, the CA in the Visayas sits in Cebu City while Cagayan de Oro City is home to the CA for Mindanao. Briccio Joseph Boholst, president of IBP — Cebu City Chapter, opposed the abolition of the CA in Cebu City, on February 1,2011, the Court celebrated its 75th Anniversary. On July 26,2007, Fire hits CA main building, from the room of Associate Justice Edgardo Sundiam at the fourth floor

27.
Court of Tax Appeals of the Philippines
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The Court of Tax Appeals of the Philippines is the special court of limited jurisdiction, and has the same level with the Court of Appeals. The court consists of 8 Associate Justices and 1 Presiding Justice, the Court of Tax Appeals is located at Agham Road, Diliman, Quezon City in Metro Manila. The Court of Tax Appeals was originally created by virtue of Republic Act, no.1125 which was enacted on June 16,1954 composed of three Judges with Mariano CH. Nable as the first Presiding Judge, with the passage of Republic Act Number 9282 on April 23,2004, the CTA became an appellate Court, equal in rank to the Court of Appeals. Under Section 1 of the new law, the Court is headed by a Presiding Justice, a decision of a division of the CTA may be appealed to the CTA En Banc, and the latters decision may further be appealed by verified petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court. On June 16,2014, the Court celebrated its 60th Anniversary, on June 12,2008, Republic Act Number 9503 was enacted and took effect on July 5,2008. This enlarged the structure of the CTA by creating a Third Division. Hence, the CTA is now composed of one Presiding Justice, the CTA may sit en banc or in three divisions with each division consisting of three Justices. The CTA, as one of the Courts comprising the Philippine Judiciary, in addition, it also acquired jurisdiction over cases involving local and real property taxes which used to be with the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals. – Justice category The Philippines Court of Tax Appeals – Official website List of CTA Justices Archived 8 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine, – List of Justices of the CTA

28.
Sandiganbayan
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The Sandiganbayan is a special appellate collegial court in the Philippines. The special court was established by Presidential Decree No,1486, as subsequently modified by Presidential Decree No.1606 and by Republic Acts numbered 7975 and 8249. It is equal in rank to the Court of Appeals, and consists of fourteen Associate Justices, the Sandiganbayan is housed in the Centennial Building, Commonwealth Avenue, National Government Center, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila

29.
Ombudsman of the Philippines
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Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Ombudsman Act of 1989, the Office of the Ombudsman independently monitors all three branches of the government for political corruption. After an investigation, the Ombudsman files charges at the Sandiganbayan, the Office of the Ombudsman predates the 1987 Constitution. There have been several offices established under various presidents of the Philippines whose duties are now subsumed under the Office of the Ombudsman, President Elpidio Quirino established the Integrity Board in 1950, President Ramon Magsaysay, the Presidential Complaints and Action Commission in 1957, President Carlos P. In 1969, the Office of the Citizens Counselor was created by the Republic Act No.6028 and it was primarily designed to conduct fact-finding investigations and make recommendations to Congress and the President. The office was not at all implemented, subsequently Marcos created the Complaints and Investigation Office in 1970 and the Presidential Administrative Assistance Committee in 1971. In the martial law-era 1973 Philippine Constitution, provided for the establishment of a court called the Sandiganbayan. On June 11,1978, during martial law, dictator President Ferdinand Marcos created by decree the office of the Tanodbayan. The Tanodbayan was not independent but served at the pleasure of the president, following the passage of the 1987 Constitution, the Ombudsman Act of 1989 was passed to define the roles and structure of the Office. The Ombudsman and its subordinates are appointed by the President of the Philippines from a list submitted by the Judicial, the Ombudsman can be removed from office only through impeachment

30.
Regional Trial Court
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The Regional Trial Courts are the highest trial courts in the Philippines. It was formerly called as the Court of First Instance since the Spanish era and it continued throughout its colonization under Spanish and Americans. After the Independence from the United States, Republic Act No.296 or Judiciary Act of 1948 was enacted to reinforce its jurisdictional powers of the Court of First Instance. Under its law, it has the power to try civil and criminal cases, however, there were numerous cases yet to be resolved or being delayed for years due to their nature. In addition, there were special courts made to try specialized cases like criminal, agricultural, and family to decongest cases, therefore, the Interim Batasang Pambansa has passed Batas Pambansa Blg. 129, or The Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980, which reorganized the lower and intermediate courts in the country,129, or The Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980, and Republic Act No. In all actions in admiralty and maritime jurisdiction where the demand or claim exceeds One hundred thousand pesos or, in Metro Manila, in all actions involving the contract of marriage and marital relations. RTC Criminal Courts typically try cases of crimes like murder and robbery, as opposed to petty crimes. In actions affecting ambassadors and other ministers and consuls. Pursuant to Batas Pambansa Blg.129 or Judicial Reorganization Act of 1980, congress can create additional RTC branches, when necessary by passing a law

31.
Civil Service Commission of the Philippines
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The Civil Service Commission of the Philippines is the Constitutional Commission of the Philippines with responsibility over the civil service. It is tasked with overseeing the integrity of government actions and processes, the commission was founded in 1900 through Act No.5 of the Philippine Commission and was made a bureau in 1905. It has 16 regional offices throughout the country, the other two Constitutional Commissions are the Commission on Elections and Commission on Audit. The 1987 Constitution staggered the terms of the members of the Constitutional Commissions, of the first appointees, the Chairman would serve seven years, a Commissioner would serve five years, and another Commissioner would serve three years. Term refers to a period, while tenure refers to the actual period that a person held office. The names of the first Members of the CSC since 1987 were mentioned in Gaminde v. Commission on Audit, the board administers the Career Executive Service Eligibility Examination that screens applicants for career executive service, or CES, positions in government. It is made under Batas pampubliko number 5 Philippines, annual Report of the Philippine Civil Service Board to the Civil Governor of the Philippine Islands, Issue 5. Philippine Civil Service Commission official website

32.
Commission on Audit of the Philippines
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The Commission on Audit, abbreviated as COA, is an independent constitutional commission established by the Constitution of the Philippines. It has the function to examine, audit and settle all accounts and expenditures of the funds. The Commission on Audit is composed of a Chairperson and two Commissioners and they must be natural-born citizens of at least thirty-five years of age, and must be either a Certified Public Accountant or a lawyer. The members of the Commission are appointed by the President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission of Appointment, the Commission has the power, authority and duty to examine, audit and settle all accounts and expenditures of the funds and properties of the Philippine government. Towards that end, it has the authority to define the scope, techniques and methods of its auditing. It also may prevent and disallow irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant or unconscionable expenditures, or uses of government funds, Auditing as a tool for effective governance has been recognized and practiced since the Spanish colonial era. One proof of this was the residencia, an inquiry into the administration of an outgoing Governor General, conducted by the Royal Audiencia, it was designed to hold colonial officials to strict accountability for all acts during their term of office. Another was the visita de tierra, a visit of inspection made every three years, which often revealed glaring anomalies in the handling of local government accounts, colonial officials also performed investigations akin to audit at the time. One was an audit of sorts for galleon trade conducted in the early 1700s. Another, which involved the inspection of the Misericordia de Manila in 1751, had shades of financial audit, in 1739, a Royal Decree by the King of Spain established the royal exchequer which was the national treasury of that era. By mid-19th century, the Tribunal de Cuentas was created and it functioned as the supreme auditing institution of the islands until the end of the Spanish rule in 1898. Staffed by a president, two auditors, a fiscal, accountants and examiners, the Tribunal had exclusive jurisdiction over the audit of all matters affecting the colony. These personnel, all appointees of the King, were required by law to review all vouchers, the Birth of an Institution Nurturing a nascent government requires a mixture of boldness and prudence. An unnumbered memorandum signed on May 8,1899 by McKinley gave birth to the Office of the Auditor for the Philippine Islands, by 1900, the Office had become a fixture of government. The civil government was ushered in 1901 under William Howard Taft. The major change in the nature of government had ripple effects in the structure of government, one result of such change was the conversion of the Office of the Auditor of the Philippine Islands to the Bureau of the Insular Auditor. However, it was more than a change of name. A provincial audit division was created for the Bureau, moreover, double-entry bookkeeping was introduced which accounted for fuller analysis of settlements and ensured a higher degree of correctness

33.
Commission on Human Rights (Philippines)
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The Commission is composed of a Chairperson and four members. The Constitution requires that a majority of the Commission’s members must be lawyers. B. L, a separate Commission on Human Rights was established upon the promulgation of the 1987 Constitution. Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines - Official Website

34.
Elections in the Philippines
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Philippine Elections are of several types. The Congress or Kongreso has two chambers and these party list seats are only accessible to marginalized and under-represented groups and parties, local parties, and sectoral wings of major parties that represent the marginalized. The Constitution of the Philippines allows the House of Representatives to have more than 250 members by statute without a need for a constitutional amendment, the Senate or Senado has 24 members which are elected on a nationwide at-large basis, they do not represent any geographical district. Half of the Senate is renewed every three years, the Philippines has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form a coalition government. The Commission on Elections is responsible for running the elections, all elected officials, except those at the barangay level, start their terms of office on June 30 of the election year. In order to vote, a citizen has to register. The COMELEC has a period for several months prior to the election. Those who are not registered will not appear on the voters list and are ineligible to vote despite being qualified to do so, people aged 15 to 18 may vote in Sangguniang Kabataan elections. Same with their counterparts, the COMELEC has a registration period a few months prior to the election. Absentee voters are divided into two types, the absentee voters and the overseas absentee voters. Local absentee voters include people who are working during Election Day and these include soldiers, policemen, government employees and the like. Overseas absentee voters are Filipinos residing abroad and they are eligible to vote on national positions only. Overseas absentee voters may vote in Philippine embassies and consulates, the voting can be as long as 6 months in a very few situations. Once a registered voter finds his/her name in the voters list and locates the correct precinct, prior to the 2010 elections, voters have to write the names of the candidates next to the positions in which they are running. COMELEC-approved nicknames maybe used by the voters in writing the names, after the polling period ends, the Board of Election Inspectors counts the ballots by hand. Once all the ballots are counted, the returns will now be sent to the city or municipal Board of Canvassers, political parties. If the city or municipal Board of Canvassers jurisdiction is an independent city with its own district, they will send their SOV. If it is otherwise, they send their SOV and COC to the provincial Board of Canvassers where the votes as stated from the city or municipal COC will be canvassed

35.
Philippine general election, 2010
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Elections for all positions in the Philippines above the barangay were held on May 10,2010. The elected president is Benigno Noynoy Aquino, the 15th President of the Philippines, the successor of vice-president Noli de Castro is Jejomar Binay, the 15th vice president of the Philippines. The legislators elected in the 2010 elections have joined the senators of the 2007 elections, the 2010 election was administered by the Commission on Elections in compliance with the Republic Act No. 9369, also known as the Amended Computerization Act of 2007 and it was the first national computerized election in the history of the Philippines. Although there were cases of precinct count optical scan machine failures, despite the fact that some provinces have reported failure of elections, these have not surpassed the 0. 50% of the total number of PCOS machines, and most were replaced on time. Local elections were held in all provinces, cities and municipalities for provincial governors, vice governors and board members, in 2004, Arroyo won the election and finished her 6-year term in 2010. As election day approached, several politicians switched political parties in order to gain votes, many switches were controversial, with the ruling party Lakas Kampi CMD having the most defections, most of which went either to the Liberal Party or to the Nacionalista Party. Singson endorsed Villar, then resigned from Lakas, but has not joined Villars Nacionalista Party, five days before the elections, petitions were made to postpone the elections due to technical malfunctions with the electronic voting machines. On May 7,2010, the Supreme Court rejected the petitions, several cities and provinces encountered several problems, postponing the election. In Caloocan, voting was delayed as the box of ballots delivered to clustered precinct 599 in the citys Pajo district contained ballots for a precinct in Sampaloc. Prior to the end of the filing of certificates of candidacy, before she was killed, Mangudadatus wife blamed provincial governor Andal Ampatuan Jr. as the culprit. On December 28,2009, a candidate for councilor died, in Sorsogon, Julio Esquivias, a Nacionalista candidate for councilor in the town of Casiguran, died due to a gunshot wound after he was shot by an unidentified gunman. In a command conference by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, worsening private armed violence was a serious security concern which had the capacity to undermine the 2010 elections. Before election day, a bomb exploded at 1,20 a. m. in Ampatuan, in Conception, Iloilo, armed men fired at the Liberal Party headquarters. During election day, three bombs exploded at a polling precinct at Pakpak elementary school in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, No casualties or injuries were reported. Another bomb exploded in Zamboanga Sibugay, killing three people, two bombs exploded at Mindanao State University where several polling precinct were clustered. An NK2 grenade exploded at Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, on the same day, at 12, 00nn, a shooting incident happened in the same area between the rival candidates. As of 1, 30pm fourteen casualties were reported due to election-related violence, at 2, 25pm, a shooting incident in a barangay in Maguindanao caused the local cancellation of the elections

36.
Philippine general election, 2013
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A general election was held in the Philippines on May 13,2013. It was a midterm election—the officials elected will be sworn in on June 30,2013, being elected are 12 senators, and all 229 district members of the House of Representatives. These national elections were held on the day as local and gubernatorial elections as well as a general election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. In total, there were 18,022 national and local positions decided, barangay officials, including barangay captains, are not to be elected in May. The 2013 Philippine barangay elections were held on October 28,2013, however the elections for the SK Officials were held at the same time but on September 24,2013, the Philippine Congress voted to postponement of the election at least a year. Due the commission not allowing an extension of registration, COMELEC offices nationwide were swamped with people on the last day of registration, the COMELEC held a week-long separate registration for prospective candidates starting from October 1. The commission is expected to release a final list of candidates by October 6, the commission completed the cleansing of the voters list in the ARMM, rejecting 236,489 names. Most were either double registrants or were too young to vote, registered voters who are members of the military, police, civil service and media who cannot vote at their voting precincts on election day may opt to register for local absentee voting. The commission removed 238,557 overseas absentee voters from the voters list after failing to manifest their intention to vote. Out of about 915,000 overseas voters, more than 200,000 had not voted in two preceding elections and were sent notices, only 29 replied and were not removed from the voters list, overseas absentee voting started on April 13, and continued until election day. Depending on the mission, a voter may vote personally or via the mail. Voting in Saudi Arabia began on April 16 after the Saudi customs refused to release the voting paraphernalia in time for April 13. Members of the police, military, members of the civil service and those which failed to vote at this period are still eligible to vote on election day itself. Out of the 18,332 voters that registered,12,732 were found to be qualified by the commission and were allowed to vote. However, the said that the turnout was low, chairman Sixto Brillantes rued the low turnout. On January 13, the period began. This allowed the commission to impose prohibitions on 24 activities, including a ban on guns. The commission released regulations on online campaigning on January 16, the COMELEC resolution stipulated that online propaganda can only be published on a website thrice a week, and allows advertisements in the form of pop-ups, banners and the like

37.
Philippine general election, 2016
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At the top of the ballot is the election for successors to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar Binay. The ARMM elections pushed through, as scheduled, barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections were scheduled for October 2016, but were postponed to 2017. Bautista replaced Sixto Brillantes, while Guanzon and Abbas replaced Lucenito Tagle and Elias Yusoph, all appointees will serve until February 2022. A few days after the announcement, it was revealed that Abas is a nephew of Mohagher Iqbal, bautista said the Abas confirmed to him that the latter is Iqbals nephew. Iqbal neither confirmed nor denied their relationship, calling it is a non-issue, the commission started voter registration for the elections on May 6,2014, to October 31,2015. Under the law, the 9.6 million registered voters who do not have attached their registration will not be allowed to vote. Voter registration was suspended from October 12 to 16 to give way to the filing of candidacies, from October 17 to 31, the commission would extend its hours up to 9,00 p. m. to accommodate last minute registrants. Voter registration was suspended in Puerto Princesa from April 20 to May 17,2015, the Voters Registration Act prohibits voter registration during recall elections. In June 2015, the commission denied reports that some voters biometrics were lost saying that they were degraded. A month later, the commission opened booths in Metro Manila, by that time, there were still 4.3 million voters with incomplete biometrics. The commission, seeing the turnout for registration at the malls. The commissions en banc had already approved in principle the mall voting process, near the end of the month, the commission said that the number of voters without biometrics has decreased to 3.8 million. By mid-August, the announced that they had purged 1.5 million. This was despite a petition to the Supreme Court by the Kabataan party-list to extend registration until January 8,2016, acting on the said petition, the Supreme Court issued a restraining order on the No Bio, No Boto mandatory voters biometrics campaign on December 1. It was later lifted after 16 days, the Philippines began using technology to streamline vote counting in 2010 when it automated its general elections. During the 2013 Mid Term elections it used the same technology, the court said that the commission failed to justify its resort to direct contracting. Two months later, the Commission conducted an election where a hybrid system of manual counting. Senator Francis Escudero disapproved of the use of the hybrid system, a few days later, the Commission informed the House of Representatives Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms that they had decided not to use the hybrid system

38.
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino
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The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino is a political party in the Philippines founded on September 16,1988. There are no results available of the last elections for the House of Representatives, but according to the website of the House, the party is divided into two factions. The faction led by Edgardo Angara was at the 2004 elections member of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, in the 14 May 2007 election, the party won 3 seats. UNIDO would be dissolved soon after, on September 16,1988, PDP-Laban was split into two factions, the Pimentel Wing of Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. and the Cojuangco Wing of Jose Peping Cojuangco, Jr. The Cojuangco Wing and the Lakas ng Bansa party of Speaker Mitra merged in 1988 to form the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino. In 1997, the party supported the candidacy of then Vice President Joseph Estrada to the merging with two other parties forming the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino. It was planned that the LDP would form the core of the opposition coalition. However, members of the party disagreed on which person to support for president, panfilo Lacson, a member of the party, advanced his candidacy for president but was not considered by Edgardo Angara, the president of the party. Together with the partys secretary-general Agapito Butz Aquino, Lacson gathered the support of members of the party. The LDP was subsequently polarized between those supporting Angara and Poe, and those for Lacson and Aquino, by then, Poe and Lacson have both filed their certificates of candidacies. According to the rules of candidacy, every candidate must have a political party to back him or her. Lacson then ran under the LDP - Aquino Wing, and Poe under the LDP - Angara Wing, during the campaign period, there had been numerous unification talks between the two factions. The opposition saw the need to become united under one banner to boost their chances of winning the election against the organized political machinery of Arroyo. The plans of unification did not materialize due to the stubbornness of both Poe and Lacson, Ramon V. Mitra, Jr. - former House Speaker and Partys Standard-bearer during the 1992 elections. Fidel V. Ramos - former president, lost the nomination to the House Speaker Ramon Mitra and formed his own party, Lakas ng Tao. Jose Peping Cojuangco, Jr. - one of the original founders, now hes the current secretary-general of PDP-Laban. Neptali Gonzales - former Senate President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo - former President of the Philippines. She quit the party in early 1997 to form her own political party, vicente Sotto III - senator, LDP member from 1992 to 1997 and left together with Arroyo to form Kampi

39.
Liberal Party (Philippines)
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It was the ruling party after the election victory of Benigno Aquino III as the President of the Philippines. Abad, Jr. Franklin Drilon, Mar Roxas, and Benigno Aquino III, the Liberal Party was founded on January 19,1946 by Manuel Roxas, the first President of the Third Philippine Republic. It was formed by Roxas from what was once the Liberal Wing of the old Nacionalista Party, two more Presidents of the Philippines elected into office came from the LP, Elpidio Quirino and the redoubtable Diosdado Macapagal. Two other presidents came from the ranks of the LP, as members of the party who later chose to follow a different path by joining the Nacionalistas, Ramon Magsaysay. During the days leading to his declaration of martial law, Marcos would find his old party as a potent roadblock to his quest for one-man rule. Led by Ninoy Aquino, Gerry Roxas and Jovito Salonga, the LP would time and again hound the would-be dictator on issues like human rights, not even Marcos declaration of martial law silenced the LP, and the party continued to fight the dictatorship despite the costs. Many of its leaders and members would be prosecuted and even killed during this time and this ironically cost the party dearly, losing for it the elections of 1992. Franklin Drilon at a party meeting at the Manila Hotel. Days later, the Supreme Court proclaimed Drilon the true president of the party, during the fierce campaign battle that followed, the party was able to field new members breaking away from the then-ruling party Lakas Kampi CMD to become the largest minority party in Congress. The party ranges from the centre-left to the absolute Left-wing politics of the political spectrum, the partys ideology is known for its pro-liberalism, pro-democracy and social justice and it has its stances against populism or any right-wing aspects. Generally, the party strictly opposes conservatism especially based on socio-politics, economy, libertarianism was one of prominent ideologies of the party

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Nacionalista Party
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The Nacionalista Party is the oldest political party in the Philippines today and was responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th century since its founding in 1907. The Nacionalista Party was the party from 1935–1944, 1944–1946, 1953–1957, 1957–1961. In practice, the differences between both parties are obscure as changing of party allegiance by individual politicians, especially prior to elections, has become a norm in Philippine politics. The original “Nacionalista” Party that was founded on August 21,1901 in Calle Gunao, Quiapo, Santos, Pio H. Santos, Salustiano Cruz, Valentin Solis and Jose Palma. During the Japanese Occupation political parties were replaced by the KALIBAPI, in 1978, in a throwback to the Japanese Occupation, political parties were asked to merge into the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, although the Nacionalistas preferred to go into hibernation. Eventually, the party was revived during the late 1980s and early 1990s by the Laurel family, **in coalition with PDP-Laban Throughout their careers, many of the countrys politicians, statesmen, and leaders were, in whole or in part, Nacionalistas. Remulla Elias K. Bulut, Sr. Wenceslao Peewee B, the Nacionalistas fielded Senator Manuel Villar, Jr. and running with fellow Senator Loren Legarda who is a member of the NPC. It became the dominant minority party after a resolution passed by the COMELEC, on April 21, however it was blocked by the Supreme Court after a suit filed by the rival Liberal Party. On May 6,2010, the Supreme Court nullified the merger and it was based on a resolution by the COMELEC giving political parties to be accredited by August 17,2009. However it is being challenged by the Liberal Party calls the said alliance a bogus alliance, as well, several local races are being challenged from both parties therefore causing confusion in those races. List of political parties in the Philippines Filipino nationalism Liberal Party The Jones Act Official party site

The Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: Kongreso ng Pilipinas) is the national legislature of the Philippines. It is …

Plenary Hall, Batasang Pambansa Complex

The Legislative Building during the 1930s.

Senate The Senate, when it is in existence, is always composed of 24 senators, including vacancies. The 1935 constitution abolished the Senate, but a 1940 amendment restored bicameralism. The 1978 constitution, the Senate was abolished a new in favor of a unicameral parliament; it was restored with the approval of the 1987 constitution.